Mr Brightside
by foolofatook001
Summary: In which Mark grows suspicious, and Celine and Will are acting in a very condemning manner. Inspired by "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers. Not related to my other stories "WKM?: Origins" and "Satisfied". Oneshot.


Mark smiled. It was nice to have the group back together once again. Damien was so busy nowadays - he knew the mayor hated not being able to see his friends, and it was rare that he could accept one of these invitations to come up to the mansion.

But here they all were, and it was like they'd never been away. Will was entertaining them with stories from his time in India. Celine was sitting tucked into Mark's side, his arm over her shoulders, her fingers interlaced with his and a soft smile on her face. Damien had a dubious expression on his face as Will's story began to grow fantastic.

"Now that's simply ridiculous," Damien said finally, shaking his head at Will. "You cannot expect me to believe that you were _pulled _into a _board game_ and were trapped until you were able to win."

"They have all sorts of things in India, old boy," Will said with a roguish grin.

"Yes, come on, Damien," Celine chimed in, a mischievous look on her face. "_Everyone_ knows the sorts of things that go on in India."

"You've never been to India," said Damien, turning to his sister. His expression seemed to indicate that he felt he was being unfairly persecuted.

Celine's shrug lifted Mark's arm with her shoulders. "I don't have to have been to India. Everyone - except apparently you - knows that anything can happen there," she told him.

Damien turned to Mark, a pleading expression on his face, and Mark couldn't hold back his laugh. "I'm staying out of this one," he informed his friend.

"Well, since _Damien _doesn't _believe_ my stories, I think I shall be off for the night," Will announced grandly, putting on his spectacles and standing.

"So soon?" Celine said, as she stood with Mark to see Will to the door.

"Oh, you know," Will said. "Early morning. Bit of plans for tomorrow. All that."

"Good night, Will," Mark said, smiling and giving his friend a hug.

"See you soon," Celine added, pressing a kiss to Will's cheek.

"Yes, yes, of course," Will said. He gave them both a quick bow and left, his booted feet still able to be heard going down the gravel driveway.

That night, Mark couldn't get to sleep. Something was bothering him, yet he couldn't put his finger on it. He got up, careful not to disturb Celine, and headed out of the room, fully intending to go to the kitchen and get himself a cup of tea or hot milk or something. Instead, he found himself by the front door, staring out the window. Will's departure came to mind for some reason. Was that the reason he was losing sleep? He ran back over it in his head.

_See you soon_, Celine had said, and kissed him on the cheek. But that was nothing. Their mother was French. Celine kissed everyone on the cheek; it was just how she'd grown up.

_See you soon_, Celine's voice seemed to whisper in his ear, only now it had a more teasing lilt to it. His mind rebelled. Of course she'd say that, Will was over at the house frequently. They were lifelong friends.

But something in him couldn't leave it alone.

_See you soon_. And a kiss.

-0-

He'd almost put it out of his head. Then Celine got it into _her_ head that they needed to have a party to celebrate Damien's re-election as mayor, so of course they had to get Will in on the planning, because who better to plan a party for the man than his two best friends and his sister?

So Will was at the house more often than not, and that sneaking suspicion just wouldn't leave Mark alone. He had his own work to do still - screenplays didn't write themselves, after all - and that meant Will and Celine ended up doing most of the party planning. He would walk into the dining room sometimes and see them, faces close, leaning over some list or another, speaking in low voices. Part of him was pretty sure that they were trying not to disturb him while he worked (his office was right off of the dining room, after all); a smaller part of him wondered if they had an ulterior motive. Whenever this happened, however, Celine would invariably look up and see him, and the smile on her face dispelled his doubts - for a little while.

"We have to make sure he doesn't find out, though," came Will's low voice from the dining room one day, and Mark paused, just outside the half-open door. The party, they had to be talking about Damien and the party.

"Oh, come on." Celine's voice had a playful note in it. "You know we're good at keeping things quiet."

The suspicious part of Mark instantly raised its head. The next instant, he dashed it away. Celine would never - what was he even thinking? He was seeing things that weren't there. They were happily married.

The next instant he was shamefully reminded of he and Celine's last argument - it had occurred that morning - which had ended in him storming off to his office to "work" and she had swept angrily outside to the garden, just before Will arrived for the afternoon.

He ground his palms into his forehead in frustration. Why was he thinking like this? He was being unreasonable. Running his hands through his hair, Mark let out a deep sigh. All this was nonsense. He had no reason to be jealous of Will or suspicious of Celine.

-0-

The party was a smashing success. Damien had been duly surprised, and the house was pleasantly full of many of his friends. Smiles were seen everywhere. Laughs abounded. The live band that Mark had rounded up gave the party a fun atmosphere. A dance floor was set up outside near the band, and was full nearly the whole night.

Mark couldn't find it in him to enjoy himself, because he had seen - _seen_! - the way Will was looking at Celine tonight, and it was bringing all of his suspicions and insecurities to the forefront.

She looked absolutely stunning - that was the problem. She'd pulled out a long black dress from her closet and the string of pearls he'd given her for their second anniversary and she was beautiful. Will appeared to have noticed this and never seemed to be far from her whenever Mark turned around.

But then again, Will had not done anything untoward, and Mark and Damien were never far from Celine either. Mark let out a quiet groan. He couldn't even enjoy the party he had helped plan for one of his best friends without these things haunting him. Maybe he should talk to Celine, just to clear the air -

_No!_ The thought hit him like a thunderbolt. If he talked to her, she would just deny everything anyway - how was he to know she was telling the truth? He knew how manipulative she could be at times. No, better to stay back and observe for now. Be patient. Only confront her when he had evidence.

-0-

"Celine! Good to see you!" Will's voice was loud, reaching even to Mark's office in the back of the house. Mark clenched his jaw. Never before had the presence of his best friend been so unwanted. Ever since the party they'd thrown for Damien, Will had found excuses to drop by at least once or twice a week. Celine said it was because Mark was working all the time and Will felt bad for her, since she didn't drive and never felt entirely comfortable going out with the new butler. Mark almost said he was sure Will didn't mind him working all the time, but held back. He couldn't confront her until he had something solid.

The problem was that he didn't _want_ to find something solid. He did his best to focus on his work when Will was around - it did need to get done - and when he came out for a break or for dinner, Will and Celine were never showing anything but friendship toward each other.

_Of course they wouldn't show anything in front of __**you**__, of all people,_ a little voice in his head said. _They're trying to hide it._

Mark shook his head. He was just going to have to trust his wife.

Will and Celine were sitting out on the back patio when Mark determined it was time for a break. He could feel a headache coming on - he hadn't been getting much sleep lately, tortured by dreams where Celine took Will by the hand and kissed him until Mark wanted to scream, but all he could do was watch, helpless. He managed to cover it up with a smile by the time he got to his wife and his best friend, however, and asked how their day had been.

Celine's face seemed to light up. "Will was telling me about when you two were little and pranked all the servants," she said, her eyes crinkling with her smile that he loved so much. "I haven't laughed so hard in months!" she added, and Mark's stomach turned. Of course _Will_ was the one to make her laugh. He used to be able to do that, once upon a time. He wasn't sure whether it was his imagination or not, but Celine seemed a little colder toward him these days.

_It's because she has Will to make her laugh and keep her company_, the little voice whispered.

"I'm going on a business trip," he heard himself announcing all of a sudden.

"Where?" Celine asked, a frown crossing her face.

"Seattle," Mark answered, leaning back in his chair. "There's a producer up there that wants to take a look at one of my scripts."

"That's fantastic, Mark!" Celine said, delighted, but a traitorous part of him wondered whether the delight was because of him or because he was going to be gone. "Do you want me to come with you?" she was asking, and he shook his head.

"It's only a few days," he said - and he could have sworn Will and Celine looked at each other. "You should stay home - I'll be alright on my own."

"If you're sure…" she began, reluctantly.

"I'm sure," he said, cutting her off. It was abrupt of him, he knew, but he couldn't shake the little voice that was telling him _She's just pretending…_ in a sing-song tone.

"All right," she said, looking hurt. Will hadn't said anything yet, simply following the conversation like it was a tennis match.

"I leave tomorrow," Mark said, standing up again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish my script."

He heard the soft rise and fall of Celine and Will's voices from his office and tuned them out as best he could.

-0-

Mark did not actually have a business trip to Seattle. Instead, he would go to the train station, wait a few hours, then return to the house. He had also contacted an old friend of his who had gotten into the private eye business, mentioning his concerns and asking him to monitor the house. Abe had been more than happy to comply.

The detective informed him that the Colonel had arrived nearly half an hour ago, and Mark bit back a snarl. He'd barely been gone two hours!

Angrily, he stalked up to the front door, then paused. He took a deep breath, running one hand through his hair. Calm. He needed to be calm. He forced his face into some semblance of indifference, then raised his hand and knocked - perhaps harder than was warranted - on the front door.

* * *

**A/N: **No one's reading these so I can make this A/N as long as I want :P

I was listening to "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers today and was struck by how it could fit WKM (because literally everything is WKM these days - I don't know what happened to me). This story is sort of divided up into three sections. The first section starts with a kiss; the second section focuses on his jealousy, and the third is dealing with the thought consuming him. And I know the ending's kind of a cop-out, but I also don't think that's the point of the song; the point is that he doesn't _quite_ know if she's cheating or not and so he still is holding on to the last vestiges of hope. Thus the not-ending.

I also was trying to get the house's effect on Mark in there (the whispers and sudden thoughts in his mind, the dreams, the initial drawing of attention to Will at the front door).

If there's anyone out there reading _Who Killed Markiplier_ fics, let me know what you think of this one, yeah?

**Edited to meet content guidelines (Thank you, catspats31).**


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